Surprises
by Guenwhyvar
Summary: This is my first Lizzie McGuire story and at first it was a one shot but I have been persuaded to continue it. I have made a few changes to correct some errors in spelling and logic. Please review.
1. Surprises

Disclaimer: I do not own Lizzie McGuire or any of the characters. I am not getting paid for any of this.

A/N: Italics are flashbacks

Lizzie McGuire sat at the table playing with her grilled ham & cheese sandwich while thinking about how her life couldn't possibly get any worse. She remembered thinking the same thing yesterday when Matt had soaped their bathroom floor just inside the door. So when Lizzie went to the bathroom she fell flat on her back. My butt's still sore and mom didn't even punish him.

**Toon Lizzie pops up steaming mad glaring wildly then launches into a rant yelling "No he gets to go spend the day with Lanny & Melina over at Lanny's house while she had to clean up the mess he made. Then today he gets to go with dad to sports thingy show. When Miranda got back from Mexico last week and I couldn't go see her or have her come over. When she called, mom answered it then told Miranda that I was grounded and wasn't allowed to use the phone. I can't IM or even email her either, because when we got back from Rome dad disconnected the phone line and the Internet connection in my room. On top of that Matt's pranks were getting worse and mom won't let me do anything about it." **

Jo McGuire watched Lizzie pout as she ate her lunch in silence, which she did a lot of since they returned from Rome. Jo was determined to stick what she had said about Lizzie being grounded for the rest of the summer no matter how much she wanted to give in and end the punishment early. She knew Lizzie was getting desperate to leave the house because she wanted to go with her father and Matt to the Sports Memorabilia & Collectibles show, which she hated.

_As Sam McGuire got into bed with Jo he said "Honey we've got to do something about Matt and his pranks because if we don't Lizzie's gonna get hurt."_

"_I know Sam," Jo replied, " but I can't think of anything to do right now except to keep them separated until I come up with something better. Normally I'd let Lizzie retaliate but I can't now, not after telling her that she couldn't as part of her punishment."_

"_I guess you can't do that. I suppose that I can take Matt with me to the Sports Memorabilia & Collectibles show tomorrow. I'll make sure we're gone all afternoon also." Sam paused a few moments to think a moment before grinning slyly and said "It's too bad Lizzie can't have Miranda & Gordo over to catch up with before summers over."_

After giving what Sam had had hinted at the previous night some more though Jo said "Lizzie, your father and I have decided that since there are only two weeks of summer left you can have Gordo and Miranda over to visit this afternoon while your dad is gone." Jo watched Lizzie's face light up as realized had just been said. "Remember," Jo continued, "your still grounded and you can't go anywhere" as Lizzie got up and rushed to the phone.

After Miranda & Gordo arrived Jo went to the tool shed to get out the rake so she could do Lizzie's yard work for her while she was visiting with her friends. When she entered the shed a bucket full of potting soil that Matt had set up as a prank on Lizzie was dumped on her instead. "Matt you are going to regret this." she said with a growl in her voice that would have filled Matt with fear if he had been there to hear it. She shook herself off then went in the house.

When she went came into the kitchen Lizzie, Miranda & Gordo were busy getting themselves a snack.

"Mrs. McGuire, what at happened to you?" asked Miranda.

"Matt!" exclaimed both Lizzie & Jo at the same time while Gordo struggled to keep from laughing out loud.

"Listen kids I'm going upstairs to clean up and I'd appreciate it if you would keep quiet about this." Jo said.

"Sure mom, you can count on us" Lizzie replied with a mischievous grin on her face.

Jo could hear all three of them break out in laughter after she left the room to go upstairs. When she got ready to take a shower she remembered that Sam had said he needed to pick up a part to fix the shower in their bathroom on the way home. So she grabbed what she need and went to use the shower in the kids bathroom.

Mean while after they had finished laughing and gone into the living room to watch some music videos on TV. Lizzie said to Miranda "I love what you've done to your hair." commenting on the red streaks in Miranda's hair.

"Thanks I just had to get my hair done this way when I saw my cousins hair like this. I thought it turned out great and I was hoping that you'd like it too."

"Your kidding, how could I not like it." Lizzie said squealing with delight. "I want to do that to my hair now. What color do you think would make my hair look better, Randa?

Gordo's eyes widened with surprise. He thought there was no way Lizzie's hair could look than it already did. 'Her hairs perfect, she's perfect and there's no way you can improve upon perfection' he thought.

"I thought you might say that so I brought the kit my cousin helped me put together for doing it." Miranda said then went over to the bag she had brought over. "If you want we can get started right now."

"Sure, what we need to do." Lizzie said as she got up. She could see Gordo rolling his eyes at that sound of that.

"First we need to wash your hair," Miranda answered as she headed for the downstairs bathroom.

Lizzie looked over at Gordo who looked completely disinterested in the whole thing then said "Gordo why don't you watch some TV or play some video games while we go do some streaking."

Lizzie had unintentionally timed it so she had said that just as he was taking a drink. Gordo sprayed soda and his eyes bulged out in surprise. Even though they didn't understand why he had reacted that way Lizzie and Miranda both thought it was hilarious and were giggling hysterically when they went into the bathroom. Gordo tried playing video games for a few minutes but gave up when he couldn't get his mind on the game and off the picture he had of Lizzie running through the house naked. After about 15 minutes he went and knocked on the bathroom door.

"What?" asked Lizzie's voice.

"Could you guy's hurry it up in there I gotta go" Gordo said impatiently.

"It's gonna take while so go use the bathroom upstairs." came the reply.

"Ok" said Gordo as he turned to go up stairs.

Jo said to herself "Ahh, it feels good to be clean again" as she quickly dried herself with the towel. Then she stepped out of the shower as started drying off her hair with the towel. After a few seconds she heard a gasp so she peeked out from under the towel and saw Gordo standing there. His eyes and mouth wide open in surprise. His mouth started to move soundlessly for a few moments as she quickly covered herself with the towel. She could feel the back of her neck grow warm and she knew she was becoming just as red with embarrassment as Gordo was.

Gordo managed to say " I ... I .... I didn't know ..... the door was open ..... bye."before he quickly fled the room closing the door behind him.

Jo stood there stunned thinking 'I know I shut the door". As she stood there in front of the shower in shock she saw the door slowly and noiselessly swing open. When she took a closer look she saw a piece of clear packing tape on the door keeping the door knob from latching.


	2. Busted

Disclaimer: I still do not own Lizzie McGuire or any of the characters. I am still not making any money from this.

"Lizzie hold still while I do this or it won't look good" Miranda said in a frustrated tone as she worked on Lizzie's hair.

"I'm trying but my butt hurts" Lizzie explained.

As Miranda began to apply the hair coloring she asked "Why does your butt hurt?"

Lizzie told her about the prank Matt had pulled on her the previous morning. After she had finished explaining it Miranda said "That little worm is going to hurt you someday if something isn't done about it. So what are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing if I don't want to continue being grounded when school starts."

"Huh" Miranda said with a puzzled look on her face.

"Mom said that if I use the phone, get on the Internet, go anywhere without their express permission I will be grounded for another month. Mom also said that if I fight with or pick on Matt in any way I'd be grounded for at least two more weeks. Apparently Matt found out about that and hes been trying his best to get me to fight with him ever since."

"That sucks." Miranda said sympathetically.

Immediately after that they heard someone running down the stairs. The two girls looked at each other and Lizzie said "I wonder what Gordo is in such a hurry about." Miranda nodded her head in agreement as Lizzie got up and opened the door.

They exited the bathroom in time to see Gordo finish coming down the stairs. His face and ears were so red and flushed that it looked like he had just got a bad sunburn. He stopped when he saw them then looked back upstairs and finally he looked towards the front door.

"Gordo what the matter?" Lizzie asked.

"I .... I... uh your mom was in the upstairs bathroom and I really gotta go." he said as he started for the bathroom.

Lizzie and Miranda exchanged puzzled looks as the door closed behind him. "What's wrong with Gordo? Why is his face all red?" Miranda asked.

"I don't know but did you see how red his ears were? "

"Yeah they looked like they were going to burst into flames."

Just then the girls heard Jo call to Lizzie from the top of the stairs. "Lizzie honey is Gordo still here?"

"Yeah he's still here." Lizzie replied as she turned answer the question. Jo was wearing her bathrobe and was wearing a towel wrapped like turban over her hair. Lizzie could also see that she had something in her hand but she couldn't tell what it was. Lizzie continued saying, "He just went into the bathroom like he was on fire."

"Good," Jo replied visibly sighing in relief. "When he comes out tell him it's ok and if he will wait until I finish getting dressed I'll explain everything to him."

"Ok mom, I'll do that." Lizzie replied then looked at Miranda who looked as confused as she felt.

When Jo got in her room she looked at the object in her hand and asked out loud "Where in the hell did Matt get a surveillance camera?" As she put it down on her dresser she added "It better not be something Sam gave him."

**15 minutes later**

"I'm sorry about what had happened upstairs but it looks like we're both victims of one of Matt's pranks." Jo apologized to Gordo . She went on to say "After you shut the door and left it started to open by itself and when I look at it closely I found this on it,"holding up a piece of clear packing tape. "This piece of tape kept the door from latching so when anyone was in or next to the tub it would swing open. I also found this on the shelf directly across the hall from the bathroom door." holding out the surveillance camera then she put it down on the coffee table.

Gordo's eyes widened when he saw the camera and he said "Wow that's a state of the art wireless color CCD surveillance camera. Those things aren't cheap."

**Toon Lizzie pops up with angry look on her face then her head explodes then immediately reappears wearing battle fatigues and holding an M16. "That's it stink boy is gonna get it when he gets home and I don't care if I get grounded for the rest of my life, he's gonna get it."**

"Mom now can I give stink boy what he deserves?" Lizzie asked with a pleading look in her eyes.

Meanwhile Gordo had picked up the camera to take a closer look at it. After a quick examination of the camera he said "Hey this isn't a real camera this is one of those dummies that they put up to fool the crooks. They see the fake and bust it thinking they aren't on camera anymore but why would Matt put a dummy camera there?"

When Jo heard that it all clicked and she knew just what Matt had been trying to accomplish. "He did it so Lizzie would see it, lose her temper and do something that would get her in trouble." Jo chuckled softly to herself then said "That boy is going to regret doing this."

When Lizzie heard her chuckle and say that, she was glad she wasn't the one in trouble. Lizzie looked at Miranda and Gordo with a gleam in her eye and mouthed the words 'Stink boy's gonna get it'.


	3. The Axe Falls

Disclaimer: I still do not own Lizzie McGuire or any of the characters. I am still not making any money from this.

As Sam & Matt McGuire left the theater and headed to the car Sam thought about the how much fun they had at the sports memorabilia& collectibles show. They had both found a few of the baseball cards that were missing from their collections. He had even bought a football autographed by Larry Csonka to add to his collection. Although they had been having fun by 3:30 in the afternoon Matt was thoroughly bored and was wanting to go home. Sam had decided to take him to a matinée showing of "Pirates of the Caribbean" so they wouldn't get home too early. Now it was almost 6:30 and he figured it was late enough.

While they were driving home Sam decided he couldn't put off talking to Matt about his pranks any longer. "Matt?"

"Yeah dad." Matt answered.

"I have to ask you to stop pulling pranks on your sister."

Matt gave him a questioning look and replied "Why?"

"They're just getting too dangerous and eventually Lizzie's going to get hurt, that's why. For example that prank you pulled on her yesterday."

Matt thought about the look on Lizzie's face after she had fallen down. That in itself was worth it but she had almost lost her temper too. So far he had been unable make her lose her temper and start fighting with him since they had got back from Rome. Not that he really wanted to get her in trouble but ever since he had learned about the part about no fighting with him or she would be grounded even longer. That was a challenge he simply couldn't resist but so far Lizzie had resisted all his attempts to make her lose her temper. When he was talking with Melina yesterday about it she had suggested using one of those fake surveillance cameras her dad sells as part of the security systems his store has for sale. The idea was to get Lizzie to think that he had taken some embarrassing pictures or video of her and she would lose her temper for sure. It was too perfect a prank not to pull on her and he almost grinned at the thought. He caught himself in time and said "It was just a harmless prank and besides nobody got hurt."

"Matt!" Sam exclaimed sharply startling Matt. He continued in a stern tone to show that he wasn't kidding. "It wasn't just a harmless prank because she could have easily been hurt by that fall and you are lucky she didn't get hurt. Now I'm telling you not to pull any more pranks like that again or you will be in big trouble."

Matt was surprised not only by what his dad just said but also by how he said it. Matt thought about it for a few moments then replied "Sure dad, I won't pull any more pranks like that again." He was grinning inwardly as he said that thinking since his next prank was completely different he was safe.

They rode the rest of the way home in silence. When the arrived Matt rushed into the house fully expecting Lizzie to be waiting to clobber him as soon as he was in the house. Much to his surprise Lizzie was nowhere in sight. "Now where would lizard breath be right now." he muttered under his breath. He could see mom in the living room watching TV so he figured that she must be waiting for him upstairs. He dashed up the stairs two at a time while making as much noise as a herd of wild horses as he went up.

When he got to the top he found the hallway empty and he could see that Lizzie's door was closed. He could hear loud music coming from her room so she could hear that he was home yet. He knew just the thing to do to get her attention though and went to his room.

When he opened his door the first thing he noticed was that someone had cleaned it up for him. Then as he looked for his radio controlled truck he noticed that his computer was gone. As he began to look around frantically he saw that his TV, VCR & DVD player was missing too. After searching his room thoroughly he found that everything was gone, all his toys, movies, books, comics and even his baseball card collection was gone. The only things left in his room was the furniture, his clothes and a bible.

He rushed downstairs yelling that someone had stolen all his stuff. When got downstairs he found that Jo, Sam, Lizzie, Miranda and Gordo waiting for him. As he came to a full stop he saw that Jo was holding the fake camera in her hand and had a very angry expression on her face. Upon seeing that he said "Uh-oh"

"Uh-Oh is right young man." Jo said with a slight growl in her voice. When Matt heard that he gulped loud enough for every one to hear it. Jo continued to say "First of all you owe Gordo an apology because you latest prank didn't get Lizzie, it got me and Gordo instead." She gave him a hard look as he nervously apologized to Gordo. After Matt finished apologizing she went on to say "None of your stuff was stolen . I had Lizzie, Gordo and Miranda help me move it all into the garage where it is going to stay until your punishment is over. You are grounded for a month and during which all of your privileges are being taken away. That means the only places you are going is to school, church, and where ever your dad and I take you. You will not be allowed to watch TV, use the phone, play video games or use the computer. Do you understand me?"

"Yes" Matt answered meekly and quietly.

"What was that, I couldn't hear you."

"Yes, I understand mom." he said louder. Matt could tell by the look on Jo's face that it was best that he shouldn't say anything else right now.

"Now I want you to go upstairs and stay in your room until you are called to dinner." Jo said sternly while pointing upstairs.

As Matt turned to go he saw Lizzie struggling and failing miserably to conceal her glee at his predicament. On his way upstairs he thought to himself '_Just you wait lizard breath, I'll get you for this. I'll get you good when you least expect it._'


End file.
